On Wednesday, May 3, the English Department hosted the official launch of UD’s literary magazine, Caesura. Memorial Hall, normally bustling with students heading to class, was transformed into an elegant reception area with High Top tables, catering, and classy floral arrangements. After working on the magazine fall, winter, and spring semesters of this year, I was beyond excited to see the final product and celebrate creative writing with my fellow editors, writers, and the UD faculty. Everyone attending the launch crowded into MEM127 and waited patiently for not only the unveiling of Caesura, but also for Pat Valdata’s poetry reading and the readings of the award-winning pieces.
The process for the fiction team to choose the works published in Caesura turned out to be easier than anticipated; I think I had imagined all of us arguing over which pieces we liked best and failing to come to a unanimous decision. However, there were several pieces that just stood out among the rest and made our selection effortless. We thoroughly looked at all the submissions and wrote individual responses to each, critiquing and praising the stories. Then, we ranked the narratives we received and made our final decision. The pieces we included in Caesura are dynamic, engaging, well-written, laced with vivid imagery, and contain realistic characters that resonate with audiences. Our selection process was completely anonymous, which made the Caesura launch even more special; now, us editors were able to meet and congratulate the authors of the pieces we fell in love with all the way back in January.
After the award winners from poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction read their pieces aloud, Claire McCabe enthusiastically revealed the finished 2017 version of Caesura. The editors had helped choose the color scheme and what finish we wanted for the cover of the magazine, but we had no idea what the inside would be like until Claire started handing out copies. The final product looked even better than we thought it would, and the glossy finishes on both the cover and throughout the magazine made Caesura look sophisticated, vibrant, and quite honestly, amazing. To see the hard work from everyone involved in Caesura manifested into this beautiful collection sent pulse waves of pride throughout Memorial Hall. I am so thankful to be a part of the creative writing community at UD and thrilled that the Gregory family is continuously devoted to supporting young writers as we develop our craft at college. Now that this year’s launch is over, I cannot wait to see what next year’s Caesura is going to look like!
